Looking for a kid friendly 6502 assembly language book
I’m going to try to see if my 12 year old son might want to learn 6502 assembly. He knows some basic but I want him to learn how computers really work which means he should learn assembly. All my assembly books assume a lot and I figure 6502 is basic enough since he won’t have to worry about memory segments and stuff like that. The best guideline I can think of is... if it’s a book Evan can learn to program in assembly on an Apple II, then it would be perfect for Ben to learn. @Evan, I think you’ll agree here. Thanks, Corey corey cohen uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ Sent from my iPhone
From many accounts, if you want to stay Apple centric, Assembly Lines is a great way to start. It assumes very little knowledge of Apple 8-bit Architecture and BASIC. Merlin macro assembler is recommended and ask the examples can be used under Virtual ][. A companion book (Like Zaks *Programming the 6502*) is recommended if you want to deep dive into 6502 minutia.
If you want to go even simpler and closer to the bare metal, get him on a SYM or KIM, then graduate to the Apple. (I recommend this method.) Combined with your gentle guidance, he'll do great. I words also chat with Adam Michlin. He teaches this stuff to kids your son's age and can give you excellent advice. On Mon, Sep 2, 2019 at 9:22 AM corey cohen via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I’m going to try to see if my 12 year old son might want to learn 6502 assembly. He knows some basic but I want him to learn how computers really work which means he should learn assembly. All my assembly books assume a lot and I figure 6502 is basic enough since he won’t have to worry about memory segments and stuff like that.
The best guideline I can think of is... if it’s a book Evan can learn to program in assembly on an Apple II, then it would be perfect for Ben to learn. @Evan, I think you’ll agree here.
Thanks, Corey
corey cohen uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ Sent from my iPhone
I own this book, FYI. https://archive.org/details/Assembly_Language_for_Kids_Commodore_64 On Mon, Sep 2, 2019 at 10:16 AM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
From many accounts, if you want to stay Apple centric, Assembly Lines is a great way to start. It assumes very little knowledge of Apple 8-bit Architecture and BASIC. Merlin macro assembler is recommended and ask the examples can be used under Virtual ][. A companion book (Like Zaks *Programming the 6502*) is recommended if you want to deep dive into 6502 minutia.
If you want to go even simpler and closer to the bare metal, get him on a SYM or KIM, then graduate to the Apple. (I recommend this method.) Combined with your gentle guidance, he'll do great.
I words also chat with Adam Michlin. He teaches this stuff to kids your son's age and can give you excellent advice.
On Mon, Sep 2, 2019 at 9:22 AM corey cohen via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I’m going to try to see if my 12 year old son might want to learn 6502 assembly. He knows some basic but I want him to learn how computers really work which means he should learn assembly. All my assembly books assume a lot and I figure 6502 is basic enough since he won’t have to worry about memory segments and stuff like that.
The best guideline I can think of is... if it’s a book Evan can learn to program in assembly on an Apple II, then it would be perfect for Ben to learn. @Evan, I think you’ll agree here.
Thanks, Corey
corey cohen uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ Sent from my iPhone
-- Heisenberg may have slept here.
Absolutely NOT the Assembly Lines book. I don't understand why everyone likes it. I found it impossible. Barely got beyond the first half the first chapter. I had much better luck with Apple Roots, however the problem there is you have to skip around a lot and make sure your assembler software matches the exact version in the book examples, which isn't easy to do. There is an online Java 6502 tutorial. IMO a true kid-friendly book on this subject does not exist. One of these days I want to write it. Stephen Gray, editor of the Amateur Computer Society newsletter (1966-1976), said the same thing (that no such book exists because they're all written by engineers who cannot understand the perspective of someone like me... or Ben) in a recorded interview in the 76-77 timeframe. VCF owns the recording; I don't think any other copies exist. I plan to ask his family for permission to post it online. On Mon, Sep 2, 2019, 10:50 AM Blake Patterson via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I own this book, FYI.
https://archive.org/details/Assembly_Language_for_Kids_Commodore_64
On Mon, Sep 2, 2019 at 10:16 AM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
From many accounts, if you want to stay Apple centric, Assembly Lines is a great way to start. It assumes very little knowledge of Apple 8-bit Architecture and BASIC. Merlin macro assembler is recommended and ask the examples can be used under Virtual ][. A companion book (Like Zaks *Programming the 6502*) is recommended if you want to deep dive into 6502 minutia.
If you want to go even simpler and closer to the bare metal, get him on a SYM or KIM, then graduate to the Apple. (I recommend this method.) Combined with your gentle guidance, he'll do great.
I words also chat with Adam Michlin. He teaches this stuff to kids your son's age and can give you excellent advice.
On Mon, Sep 2, 2019 at 9:22 AM corey cohen via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I’m going to try to see if my 12 year old son might want to learn 6502 assembly. He knows some basic but I want him to learn how computers really work which means he should learn assembly. All my assembly books assume a lot and I figure 6502 is basic enough since he won’t have to worry about memory segments and stuff like that.
The best guideline I can think of is... if it’s a book Evan can learn to program in assembly on an Apple II, then it would be perfect for Ben to learn. @Evan, I think you’ll agree here.
Thanks, Corey
corey cohen uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ Sent from my iPhone
-- Heisenberg may have slept here.
Here are some resources I use with my high school and college students: http://ceos.io/dev/ I rather prefer Apple Roots over Assembly Lines for beginners, though. Apple Roots does get pretty intense after the first few chapters, though, especially when it gets into graphics and banked switch memory. Both books are free, though, so I tend to start with Apple Roots and then transition to Assembly Lines. Best wishes, -Adam On 9/2/2019 9:21 AM, corey cohen via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I’m going to try to see if my 12 year old son might want to learn 6502 assembly. He knows some basic but I want him to learn how computers really work which means he should learn assembly. All my assembly books assume a lot and I figure 6502 is basic enough since he won’t have to worry about memory segments and stuff like that.
The best guideline I can think of is... if it’s a book Evan can learn to program in assembly on an Apple II, then it would be perfect for Ben to learn. @Evan, I think you’ll agree here.
Thanks, Corey
corey cohen uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ Sent from my iPhone
On 9/2/19 9:21 AM, corey cohen via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I’m going to try to see if my 12 year old son might want to learn 6502 assembly. He knows some basic but I want him to learn how computers really work which means he should learn assembly. All my assembly books assume a lot and I figure 6502 is basic enough since he won’t have to worry about memory segments and stuff like that.
The best guideline I can think of is... if it’s a book Evan can learn to program in assembly on an Apple II, then it would be perfect for Ben to learn. @Evan, I think you’ll agree here.
I always liked playing with the Apple ROM monitor. You could call it from basic. I've always tended to learn from the ROM monitors. I have Omnimon for both my Atari 800 and 800XL. I have Humbug for the MC10 and CoCo 1-3. I'm building Humbug for rest of motorola boards. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
Corey, *Not* answering your question ... Unless you would like your son to use an Apple-II, or one of the many 8-bit classic computers based on the 6502, (Commodore, Acorn, etc.) why not use the Arduino boards with Atmel AVR CPUs ? The benefits of learning assembly for the 6502 or an AVR will be the same, while using the Arduino/AVR will make available a plethora of inexpensive CPU and expansion boards, (motor driver, for example,) projects, active communities, etc. Some resources, not necessarily 12 years old friendly: https://www.instructables.com/id/Command-Line-AVR-Tutorials/ http://microdigitaled.com/AVR/Articles/AVR_v1_online.pdf http://www.avr-asm-tutorial.net/avr_en/beginner/ https://www.crcpress.com/Some-Assembly-Required-Assembly-Language-Programmin... https://www.avrfreaks.net/ https://www.avrfreaks.net/forum/ https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=37130.0 https://forum.arduino.cc/ https://www.quora.com/How-could-I-learn-AVR-microcontroller-programming-Any-... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_x6IsROdlqoYsYXvdxXMue3ZilVR-PrV -- Roberto Waltman On 9/2/2019 9:21 AM, corey cohen via vcf-midatlantic wrote: I’m going to try to see if my 12 year old son might want to learn 6502 assembly. He knows some basic but I want him to learn how computers really work which means he should learn assembly. All my assembly books assume a lot and I figure 6502 is basic enough since he won’t have to worry about memory segments and stuff like that. The best guideline I can think of is... if it’s a book Evan can learn to program in assembly on an Apple II, then it would be perfect for Ben to learn. @Evan, I think you’ll agree here. Thanks, Corey
On Mon, Sep 2, 2019 at 9:21 AM corey cohen via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I’m going to try to see if my 12 year old son might want to learn 6502 assembly. He knows some basic but I want him to learn how computers really work which means he should learn assembly. All my assembly books assume a lot and I figure 6502 is basic enough since he won’t have to worry about memory segments and stuff like that.
A lot of people like Jim Butterfield’s book on 6502 programming.
The best guideline I can think of is... if it’s a book Evan can learn to program in assembly on an Apple II, then it would be perfect for Ben to learn. @Evan, I think you’ll agree here.
Thanks, Corey
corey cohen uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ Sent from my iPhone
-- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation
participants (8)
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Adam Michlin -
Blake Patterson -
corey cohen -
Dean Notarnicola -
Evan Koblentz -
Jeffrey Brace -
Neil Cherry -
Roberto G. Waltman